Germany's nuclear phase-out "progressing as planned": minister
Xinhua
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BERLIN, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- Germany's nuclear phase-out was "progressing as planned", Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety Svenja Schulze announced on Monday.

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The Muelheim-Kaerlich plant collapses after remote-controlled excavators removed pillars that supported the tower, near Koblenz, Germany, Friday, Aug. 9, 2019. (File photo by AP)

"The nuclear phase-out will make our country safer," said Schulze, stressing that abstaining from nuclear energy would "help prevent radioactive waste that will burden 30,000 future generations."

With the switch-off of the second unit of a nuclear power plant in southern Germany, the next nuclear plant would be taken off the grid by the end of the year at the latest. This would be a "further step" in Germany's nuclear phase-out, according to Schulze's ministry.

According to the government, all nuclear power plants in Germany would be shut down step by step. The last nuclear power plants in Germany are scheduled to go off the grid by the end of 2022 at the latest.

"It is particularly important to emphasize in times when some people are propagating nuclear power as a supposed climate saver. Nuclear power does not solve a single problem, but it creates new problems..." said Schulze. 

Last week, the economic and energy policy spokesperson for the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group, Joachim Pfeiffer, told the German magazine Spiegel that a continuation of nuclear power in Germany was conceivable under certain conditions.

The government, however, clearly rejected speculations about abandoning the nuclear phase-out for climate protection reasons. "The phase-out will take place as planned," said government spokesperson Steffen Seibert.